Five years after a devastating fire, the Note-Dame Cathedral – a religious icon and cultural symbol of France, as well as a meeting point for Parisian tourism – has already set a date to reopen its doors to the public: next Sunday, December 8. The restoration work , which involved two thousand workers and skilled craftsmen, will be celebrated in a reopening ceremony the night before (7), for invited guests only, which will be broadcast globally. Built between 1160 and 1345 in the Gothic style, Notre-Dame Cathedral is visited by 12 million tourists every year. The building has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. On April 15, 2019, a devastating fire engulfed Notre-Dame, shocking the global community.

The reconstruction work

[caption id="attachment_184684" align="alignnone" width="2240"] A Catedral de Notre-Dame

[/caption] Everything was rebuilt for the reopening of Notre-Dame: both the parts damaged by the fire and those that were not affected. Although the project prioritized maintaining the original appearance , the restored Notre-Dame has gained a new space, brighter and cleaner, which offers a new experience to visitors. The exterior of the building was protected and stabilized with a 991 m³ limestone reinforcement that replaced what had been damaged . The walls and statues had their soot removed, smoke and water-damaged paintings were repaired, and the original oak roof structure was rebuilt. The Viollet-le-Duc tower, which was completely consumed by the flames and collapsed from a height of 93 meters, was rebuilt in an identical manner, now covered with wood and lead. [caption id="attachment_184682" align="alignnone" width="854"] Torre Catedral Notre-Dame

[/caption] “Ultimately, [the tour] will be a great journey of rediscovery , making people understand the meaning of this cathedral,” explained Olivier Josse, the cathedral’s general secretary.

Next steps

[caption id="attachment_184683" align="alignnone" width="1190"] Notre-Dame, Paris

[/caption] Work on the exterior of the cathedral will continue. In fact, the city is investing approximately 50 million euros to create 1,800 m² of green space in a pedestrian-friendly area. Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets has won an international competition to redesign the cathedral’s grounds with a plan that calls for creating a “microclimate” through vegetation and a water feature. Similar in size to the cathedral’s interior, the courtyard will be redesigned as a “clearing” among the trees – with 160 additional trees planted to provide shade in the summer. What used to be an underground parking garage will be transformed into a covered promenade reminiscent of Paris’s famous 19th-century passages. It will also feature a visitor center that will include a bookstore, restrooms, and a café . Most importantly, it will connect directly to the Seine River and the archaeological crypt , a lesser-known museum that displays ancient Gallo-Roman remains discovered during excavations in the heart of historic Paris. The project – which will begin in autumn 2025, with the first phase expected to be completed in 2027 – aims to improve visitor reception. Information: National Geographic

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